


Into the Time-Rift

by Spirit_Healer_Mage



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Children of Characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-03-09 02:12:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13471506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spirit_Healer_Mage/pseuds/Spirit_Healer_Mage
Summary: Beth is Hawke and Anders' daughter, twin to Mal (Malcolm Anders Hawke).  This is a female Hawke who fell in love with Fenris, then Anders once Fen left her.  She sided with the mages but in a moment of anger and betrayal also killed her then-lover Anders when the Chantry exploded.  She didn't find out until weeks later that she was pregnant with his children - twins.  Regretting every single day her decisions that fateful last day in Kirkwall, she retreated from all her former friends and went into hiding, where she stayed with her children to raise them for almost four years before hearing of Corypheus' return.  Determined to rectify this, she dropped her two little ones off with Varric while she ended up fighting and falling into the rift.  The Inquisitor chose her to battle Nightmare and she never returned from the fade.  Hearing of the loss through one of Varric's letters, Fenris came and decided to raise Mal & Beth as his own from then on. He was a loving and faithful father figure for them.  Amidst an intense battle, Beth is shunted by a time rift back in time and space to pre-chantry blow-up Kirkwall, where she will come face to face with her parents and attempt to sort their tangled pasts and right some wrongs.





	1. Chapter 1

The ringing clash of broadsword against longsword reverberated through my arms; sweat from the drawn-out battle dripping annoyingly in my eyes as I faced my armored opponent with a fierce scowl that promised imminent destruction. My muscles burned as I held the man’s sword at bay - halting it as the warrior attempted to physically force it towards my unarmored throat.

The sizzle of burnt flesh assaulted my nose and I quickly swung my head to the left, where Malcolm, my twin brother, and Fenris, the elven father-figure that had raised my brother and I for as long as I could remember, were fighting. I breathed an inward sigh of relief as I saw Fenris still up and fighting and Malcolm casting various barrier and healing spells to keep his small family alive and protected. It was our normal fighting routine, perfected over many years of hunting slavers and destroying various magisters together. One of Mal’s barriers had repelled the lightning spell the current magister we were fighting had flung towards Fenris and had deflected the spell into a couple of the dozen or so guards that were defending the magister at the moment.

My nose wrinkled in disgust at the disturbing smell - it was a close second to the coppery tang and dessicated smell of blood magic being used and I hated it. At least it had not hit Malcolm or Fenris. The purple-robed magister decided to change tactics and I saw him begin the motions to a complicated spell as he began to chant rhythmically in some kind of archaic Tevene.

My inattention to the man in front of me as I surveyed the battle briefly cost me as he swung his longsword through my defenses and managed to land a strike near my ribs. I heard a crack as a sharp pain shot through me at the point of impact. My adrenaline soaring I turned back and bared my teeth viciously at the man, managing to transform the pained yell that was my initial reaction to the injury into a fiercely intimidating growl. The man’s eyes widened as I found my energy anew and swung my broadsword easily up and towards the chink in the man’s defenses afforded by the strength and overconfidence of his previous strike. With a triumphant shout, I managed to cleave the man’s head nearly in two as he fell bonelessly to the ground and quickly bled out.

Gritting my teeth, I pushed my hand against my side and winced at the pain. A broken rib, most likely - though I didn’t appear to be bleeding too much...my hand coming away nearly blood free. My hunched body signalled my distress to Malcolm and I sighed in grateful relief as a wash of healing blue magic enveloped my body and helped to ease the pain. I rushed towards Fenris, who was fighting five of the soldiers at the same time. I joined the fray and we quickly dispatched four of the five men with brutal efficiency.

The world around me came to a gut-wrenching halt and sharpened vividly as, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the deranged magister raise both of his arms and laugh maniacally as he finished whatever Maker-damned spell he had concocted and flung a greenish burst of light straight towards Fenris. In a split-second decision more borne of instinct than conscious decision, I barrelled into Fenris and knocked him out of the spell's path just in time for the spell to strike me instead of him, my mind screaming a wordless goodbye to them both as the light from the spell enveloped me.

The last sight that burned through my vision was Fenris, eyes widened in desperate panic as he screamed my name through the blooming haze of pain that was currently ripping me apart. I vaguely heard Mal’s voice as he wailed his denial and anger, his expression one of horror and impending loss. In what seemed to me to be a small measure of eternity but what was actually more like a few seconds in reality, my vision faded into blackness and I passed into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

I groaned as the various aches and pains of my body made themselves known.   _ At least I’m alive, I suppose...I didn’t expect that at all! _ I thought to myself - I had resigned myself to never waking again after the pain that had ripped through me.  My mind a haze of semi-confusion, I took a few moments to gather myself and remember what had happened, breathing deeply for a few breaths to re-center myself instead of slipping into a panic.  

I smelled water a little ways away and the crisp autumnal air was chillier than the area where the magister had been.   _ It must have shunted me to an entirely new place _ I surmised; grimacing at the bright sun as I finally managed enough fortitude and resolve to blink my eyes open.

I sat up slowly, wincing in pain, and attempted to take stock of my injuries and current surroundings.  No other beings for as far as I could see.  The water I had sensed earlier was off to my left.  I sighed, silently cursing, as I ran my hand through the messy tangle my hair had become in the battle.  _ Magisters and their Maker-damned chaotic, untested, insane spells and machinations.   _ It wasn’t the first time our family had gotten messed up in one of them and I knew it wouldn’t be the last.  Still - I was glad of all the good we accomplished - hunting down and destroying the last of the Venatori magisters and freeing the people still held under their cruel thumb.  

Though my twin brother and I weren’t blood-related to Fenris, we were truly family nevertheless.  He was our surrogate father - and a good one too - after our parents both died.  According to what I could wheedle out of Varric (the viscount of Kirkwall and an old and trusted family friend), the man who sired my brother and I had died at the very beginning of the mage rebellion, when the chantry had exploded, destroying large chunks of the city as fighting broke out amongst the mages and templars of the city.  He never would give me more detail than that - not even the man’s name! (Malcolm and I only found _that_ out after sneaking through some of Varric's endless files and papers one night.  Anders...His name had been _Anders_ ) My mother, Varric informed my brother and I, had been a wonderfully courageous woman and had helped defend the mages of Kirkwall as they were nearly overwhelmed by the local templars.  

Varric would never give us more details and Fenris flat out refused to talk about it at all - though I knew from Varric he had been there that day.  The only thing Varric  _ would _ say is that something deep inside my mother had shattered irrevocably that fateful day she had lost both home and partner and, try as he and her friends might to comfort and support her, she was never quite the same again.  

My mother fled Kirkwall after the battle and only found out she was pregnant a few months afterwards.  She avoided the people she had once called friends and isolated herself.  The only time she had actively sought out the others was when she’d heard of Corypheus returning, ripping enormous holes in the sky and threatening the entire world in the process.  Varric said she’d dropped Malcolm and I off with him (we were only around four years old or so at the time) and had gone with the newly-formed Inquisition to try and stop him.  Varric said seeing her then made his heart break for her all over again.  She was a shell of the vibrant, vivacious hero she had once been and he saw only deep weariness and grim resignation in her eyes as she’d gone off to help battle Corypheus with the rest of the Inquisition.  She never came back.

Varric told me she died a heroine’s death - battling a terrifying demon of the fade, holding it off so that the Inquisitor and the rest of his party could escape the Fade and return to battle the menaces that threatened the entire world.  But I didn’t care or know any of it at the time.  My brother and I, young as we were, cried inconsolably for days when we fully realized our mother was never coming back.  At only four years old, we were orphans.  

I shook my head to try and clear the painfully dark thoughts that had suddenly intruded - things I hadn't thought of for years now.  No matter how dark my thoughts at the moment - I needed to be practical...I needed to figure out exactly  _ where  _ the Magister's spell had sent me, then make my way from wherever I was to try and re-connect with Malcolm and Fenris again.  I crossed my legs and let my hands settle into the grass below me while I took stock of my surroundings with a keener eye than before.  From what I saw, I knew there was a simple dirt road that went both right and left.  Off to the left was a rather large mountain and to the right, off into the distance, I see what looked like a city of sorts - though which city exactly I couldn't begin to say.  

_ Well, the sooner I get going, the sooner I can get back to my family  _ I thought to myself as I stood up and brushed stray bits of dirt and grass off my lyrium-blue and black armor - armor that I had had proudly crafted after Fenris' own when I FINALLY bested him in one of our twice-daily sparring matches for the very first time.  I had crafted it myself with help from several blacksmiths as well as Fenris himself but I had refused to wear it until that day.  Fenris never was one to pull his punches or coddle us when it came to training so I knew that I had won the match fair and square.  The sincere look of pride and love in his eyes spoke volumes in their silence.  

I could cast some magic but only used it in the most dire of circumstances.  I much preferred the large, well-crafted broadsword strapped to my back over my mediocre-at-best magical talents.  And with red lyrium-addled mages and templars as well as slavers still running around unchecked - magic was better kept under wraps anyway.  Besides, it was my brother Mal that had inherited the best of our parents' magical talents anyway.  He had taken to it from the very first moment he accidentally burned down one of the tents we were camping in while trying unsuccessfully to light the campfire in the middle of our camp by more conventional means.  His dawning horror had turned quickly to delighted exploration as he discovered his penchant for healing and growth spells.  While I could tell Fenris wasn't exactly  _ happy _ about the change, I could tell Mal was still Mal in his and my eyes both and, while Fen never outright said anything, Mal would still find that the occasional magical tome or spellwork component had mysteriously appeared on his bedroll or in one of his bags while we were traveling.  

I slipped off the loosened leather band wrapping my hair into the parody of a ponytail and tied my sable locks back up and into a rough but serviceable half-ponytail before marching on the path to the right of where I was - towards the unknown city ahead.   _ I wish there was someone else on the road - at least then I might have some clue as to where I am  _ I thought to myself dejectedly.  The magical portal-rift  _ thing  _ could have sent me literally anywhere - the few I had heard of being cast were notoriously chaotic and unpredictable; even in the hands of the best of mages...and the magister we had been battling had been anything but.  A contemplative frown creased my brow and I sent a quick, silent plea to the sky and whoever might be listening that Fen and Mal would be ok and that I'd be able to find them again soon.


	3. Chapter 3

As I drew closer to the city I could tell I definitely wasn't in the Tevinter Imperium anymore.  The shape of the buildings were wrong and the air was far too cool for that. The city struck a familiar chord for some reason but I couldn't place  _ why  _ exactly.  My brow furrowed as I tried to work out where I was as I entered the strikingly bustling city and contemplated where to go from here.  I had nothing on me but my armor and sword. The rest of my bags and things had been left back at our campsite before we set out to confront the magister.  I chewed on my lip thoughtfully for a moment.  _ The poorer sections of the city would probably be my best bet for lying low until I can figure out where I am  _ I decided to myself.  Plus, I could pick up some odd jobs to earn some coin or at least food while I sorted out where I was and how to get back to my family.  

The poorer sections weren't terribly hard to find; though my instincts were twitching at the sense of familiarity coupled with a streak of wrongness that I couldn't quite identify and that didn't make any sense to me.  I took a closer look at the buildings around me; squinting and peering so intently I nearly ran into the tight-knit group laughing and joking together just in front of my path.

"Sorry," I said absentmindedly, stepping sideways out of the way without really looking at them.  

One of them replied with a "No problem, lass" in an eerily familiar cadence.  I started walking past and was about to continue on when I spied a mop of stark white hair and familiar green eyes sparkling with shrewd intelligence.  It took a moment to register but when it did I whirled around, my mouth dropping open in surprise and happiness. It was Fen!  _ Thank the Maker - He must have gotten pulled through the rift too!   _ Which meant Malcolm was probably somewhere around as well!  I wasn't alone! A heavy weight lifted from my chest and muscles I hadn't even realized were tensed relaxed in a rush of relief.  No matter where we had wound up at least we were together! We could figure things out from there; we had always been so much stronger together anyway.  

"Fenris!" I cried joyfully, hurtling towards him with arms outstretched.  I knew he didn't like hugs much except on special occasions but I was certain this qualified as one!  Fen remained with arms crossed over his chest and glaring towards me with suspicion. I just managed to skitter haphazardly to a stop before crashing into the elf.   _ Okaaay....maybe the portal had done something to his head.  Or he didn't trust it was actually me - yeah that was probably it! _

"Hand hug, at least?" I wheedled, using my best, biggest puppy-dog eyes - the ones he normally couldn't resist for very long at all.  He just glowered at my right raised hand, not lifting his own to meet mine at all. His hands stayed firmly across his chest.

"And just who are YOU?" he demanded in a harsh, gravelly voice.  I froze stock still, ice flooding my veins in an instant. I blinked my eyes at him a couple of times, lost for words; feeling like I couldn't even think.  It took what felt a timeless eternity before I finally felt the world begin turning again. I slowly lowered my hand back down to my side and felt my body tense tighter than ever before.  Something was most definitely wrong.

"You...you don't recognize me at all?" I asked shakily, trying not to let the fear and incredulity show in my face; trying not to fly apart at the seams.  There had to be an explanation; an  _ answer _ to all this madness.   _ Probably something to do with magisters!  _ I surmised sourly with an inward grimace.  

"No." he replied flatly, his voice laced thickly with suspicion.  "How do you know  _ me _ exactly?  Who sent you?"  His eyes were narrowed and angrier than I'd ever seen; pointed directly at me, though I knew him well enough to see the fear underlying it all.  One hand drifted to his weapon. Was he brainwashed or spelled with something? No way he didn't recognize me at all! He had raised Mal and I for  _ years _ now!  Since we were young enough to not even reach his knee in height.  There was something else going on! There had to be! And he had never once raised a weapon in anger at me; only used it to teach me swordplay or to spar when we both felt the need to work off some anger or energy.  

"Shit," I muttered darkly as I finally put my finger on the _wrongness_ I had felt since entering the city.  I took a closer look at Fenris, realizing he appeared younger than I remembered; _much_ younger.  A terrible thought struck me; as harsh and quick as lightning.  I had been thrown through more than simply place; I had been flung through time as well!   _Andraste's knickers; I hope not!_ I thought to myself.  I took a closer look at the architecture of the city.  There! A lot of the buildings and structures resembled the ones I had seen in Kirkwall on some of my visits to see Varric and Aveline with Fenris and Malcolm.  Aveline was usually busy and Merrill Fen wouldn't speak to so Mal and I usually just hung out with Varric and listened to his stories. 

Struck with a sudden idea, I looked over to the building the group had been heading toward.  Just as I thought - it was the Hanged Man. "Shit!" I said again, my mind starting to reel with the implications of what I saw before me.  The Hanged Man had been destroyed long ago when the great mage-templar war began and had only been rebuilt with much effort and many years later - it looked nothing like the building I saw before me, save for the namesake of the place hanging above the door.  

"First," I said slowly, swallowing a lump that had suddenly formed like a rock in my throat, "what year is it, exactly?"

I saw Fenris smoothly pulling his weapon from its sheath and take a step forward when a heretofore unseen woman stepped in front of him and held out a placating hand behind her to get him to stop his actions.  I heard a low, irritated growl from Fenris and my eyes began to fill with tears at that fierce aggression turned towards me. I whimpered slightly; involuntarily letting a tear slip down my cheek as my eyes shot to the striking woman before me.  Her hair was jet-black and short, with riveting blue eyes that rivalled my brother Mal's in their keen intensity and fiery passion; their depth seemingly endless and intelligent beyond measure.  _ Who in the Maker's name IS this woman?   _ I thought to myself as she shot a half-grin my direction; the good humor and joy infectious.  I smiled back in spite of myself. 

"Please," I directed the question towards the woman, "I don't mean harm to anyone here in the city or to any in your group.  I just want to know the year. What is the year right now?"

She raised an incredulous eyebrow but answered my question anyway.  "It is the year 9:33 Dragon," she replied with a cadence that marked her as unmistakably Fereldan.  "My name is Hawke, and it looks like you already know Fenris," she chuckled. "We all got off on the wrong foot.  Why don't you come with us to the Hanged Man and we can get everything sorted out better?" 

I begrudgingly nodded.   _ Hawke.   _ This woman was the mother I had lost to the Inquisition; to Corypheus.  This was her! Actually  _ her _ in the flesh!  I gasped, my eyes started to water; the prick behind my eyes growing harsher and harder to ignore.  I pushed the tears back fiercely. I would NOT cry, damn it! 

Maybe this was a different Hawke.  I didn't really remember her, after all.  There could most definitely be another Hawke - my mother had had family.  A sister and a brother, if I remembered right. Wasn't I even named after this sister she had lost?  This wasn't actually my  _ MOM,  _ right?  It couldn't be!  I headed dazedly into the Hanged Man, following the group as best I could and trying to think of an explanation that would make sense to the group I had apparently found myself following.  The next few days would be interesting, to say the least. 

**Author's Note:**

> I discovered the world of fanfiction about six or seven months ago and while I've been avidly reading many of them I have yet to post anything of my own. This is my initial foray into that territory - my very first fanfic using one of my favorite fandoms! Hope anyone reading enjoys and please forgive any errors in writing or characterization - constructive criticism is always welcome :) Shout out to the most awesome mythicalbard, who inspired me to actually write down a story and share it with others instead of giving in to my anxiety and hiding all my writing away from the world!


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